Samuel e



(No Model.)

s. E. JOHNS.

MACHINE FOR GATHERING AND GOLLATING BOOK SIGNATURES." No. 380,898. Patented Apr. 10, 1888.

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UNITED TATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL E. JOHNS, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO ALEXANDER R. MONROE, OF'SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR GATHERING AND 'COLLATING BOK-SIGNATURES.

{SPECIFICATION fo ling part of Letters Patent No. 380,898, dated April 10, 1888.

Application filed August 31, 1887. Serial No. 248,330. No model.)

To all? whom it may concerm.

l 3e it known that l, SAMUEL E. JOHNS, a citizencf the United States, residing at Indianapol s, 1n the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Gathering and Collating Book-Signatures, of which the following 1s a specification.

My invention relates to an improved means [0 for gathering the several signatures which go to form a book.

The object of my improvement is to automatically gather into one pile one from each of a series of piles of signatures, thereby ar- I 5 ranglng in regular succession the several signatures which go to form a book, the process going on continuously until the supply of signatures is exhausted, all as hereinafter fully described.

. The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is plan. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section. A is the main frame, on which the several parts are mounted.

B and G are drums mounted so as to revolve on suitable shafts at opposite ends of the frame A.

D is a conveyer-belt mounted on the drums B and O.

E, F, and G represent a series of vertical chutes secured to the upper part of the main frame above the conveyer-belt. Said chutes are open at both ends, their lower ends being temporarily closed by doors h h it, hinged to thelower edge of the chnte,or by sliding plates 't Z 'L.

J is a light frame arranged to slidelongitudinally in the upper part of frame A. The plates 40 i i i are secured to the upper side of frame J, and are arranged to slide in groovesin the sides of the chutes, so as to leave a space equal to the thickness of one of the folded signatures 2 between the bottom of the plates and the tops of the hinged doors h when said doors are closed, as shown in Fig. 2.

m m mare a series of slightlyyielding arms, secured, also, to the upper side of frame J, and arranged to engage and close the doors h when the frame J is slid forward.

N is a lever pivoted at 0 to the main frame and arranged to enga e the inner edge of the cross-bar p of frame Preferably there are two levers N, arranged on opposite sides of the main frame and connected by a cross bar, r. r

S is a spring secured at one end to the main frame and at the other end secured to the frame J, the purpose being to draw frame J to the position shownin Fig. 3. The doors h are held up against the lower ends ofthe chutes by hooks t, pivoted to the sides of the chutes and arranged to engage short lugs a, projecting from the edges of the doors. The hooks t are held normally against stops o, secured to the sides of the chutes by springs w. Short projecting lugs x are secured to frame J and arranged to engage the lower ends of the hooks t. Secured to the conveyer-belt D are a series of blocks, y, and stops 2:. Said blocks y and steps a are placed at the same distance apart as the forward edges of the chutes, the blocks y being arranged to come in contact with lever N and the stops 2 arranged near the middle of the belt to receive the signatures Z as they fall from the several chutes.

l is a forked plate secured at one end to a table, 2, and having the other end resting on the upper surface of belt D.

The operation of my machine is as follows: 8c The 'parts being in position shown in Fig. 2, the chutes E, F, and G, having their lower ends closed by the doors h, are filled with the folded signatures Z. There are in practice as many of the chutes employed as there are sig- 8 5 natures required to make abook. The signa tures in any single chute are all alike, and the different signatures are arranged in successive order, corresponding to their order as found in the complete book, in the successive chutes. commencing with chute E. The drumsBand G and belt D are now put in motion in the direction indicated by the arrow. As the belt moves forward, block y passes from under the lever N, and frame J, being thus left free by 5 the release of the lever, is drawn backward by spring S to the position shown in Fig. 3. By the backward movement of frame J the. thin plates '5 are thrust between the lowermost signature and the mass of signatures abovein each chute. At the same time thelugs 00, projecting from the frame,are broughtin contact with all the hooks t and the several doors h are simultaneously released, thus allowing the signature which has been separated from the rest in each chute by the plates 2' to fall onto the belt D and against the stops z. As the belt D continues then to move forward, the next block y, coming in contact with lever N, pushes the lever outward, thus drawing the frame J again to the position shown in Fig. 2. The yielding arms at during this forward movement of frame J pass under and close the doors h, which are retained in their closed position by the hooks t, and the platesz' being at the same time withdrawn the masses of signatures in the several chutes move down the thickness of one signature. At the next backward movement of frame J the first operation will be repeated, and there will be dropped upon the signature first deposited the next succeeding signature, and so on with each movement of the frame J until that signature deposited from the first chute of the series has reached the last chute, where all of the signatures necessary to form one book will be found arranged in regular succession in one pile, which, as it moves forward over drum 0, is received by the plate 1, and is removed by the attendant.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the following elements, namely: a main frame, a conveyor-belt arranged to traverse said main frame, a series of open chutes arranged in regular succession above said conveyer-belt, each of said chutes having its lower end closed by two alternatelyremovable covers, said covers being arranged one above the other, so as to leave a narrow space between them, and intermediate connecting mechanism connecting said'conveyerbelt and covers, whereby the covers are alternately operated to open and close the chutes by the forward movement of the belt, all substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a machine for gathering book-'signa- 5 tures, the combination, with the main frame, the conveyer belt arranged to traverse said frame, and the series of open chutes arranged above the conveyer-belt and each having its lower end closed by two alternately-removable U door h, hinged thereto, and the hook it, arranged to engage and hold the door when closed, of the sliding frame J, having the lug a; and arm m, whereby the door is opened and closed by the reciprocating movement of the frame, sub-. stantially as specified.

4. In a machine for gathering book-signatures, the combination, with the main frame, the conveyor-belt mounted thereon, the series of chutes arranged above the conveyer-belt, the

sliding frame, the plates '6, secured to the sliding frame, and the doors h,hinged to the chutes, of the lever N, pivoted to the main frame, the series of arms m and lugs 00, secured to the sliding frame, spring S, attached to the main frame and sliding frame, and block y, secured to the conveyer-belt and arranged to engage the lever N, whereby the sliding frame is reciprocated and the series of chutes simultaneously,

opened and closed, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

SAMUEL E. JOHNS.

'Witnesses:

H. P. H001), V. M. H001). 

